How to make less earn more? [Dark Messiah of Might & Magic]

Over the past few years, a fashion for “investigations” has appeared in the Russian segment of the Internet (and in the last year, game publications began to sin with this). I don’t really want to miss popular love to exclusives. Therefore, I want to present my new investigation about the business model and the principle of development with the early Arkane, and to reveal the theme of the “objective criticism of the video game” that exciting me (I hope you too). Other similar works can be found in my blog.

This blog is a textual adaptation of a video that will be attached below. If your eye is nicer than the text, then you can see it just below the video, but I recommend a video format.

Video version of the blog

Prologue

What good games were released in 2021? Objectively good. Continuation of the remake of Final Fantasy VII ? Maybe Deathloop ? Or reprint Mass Effect? Each of us will have our own view of this question. One hundred people project a hundred opinions. Lover of indie game will choose an unknown indie to anyone. The person who has played only in the last 10 years only in Call of Duty He will say that it is Call of Duty, And an amateur J-RPG He will say that it is J-RPG. We do not have a clear tool for evaluating games, because hundreds and thousands of different factors affect the assessment. And only the collective voice of the players ultimately affects the games that are released by video game companies when our voices at least in one aspect will converge in a general opinion. This is our lever of pressure on the industry. After all, all companies want to meet our expectations.

But what if I say that outwardly good games can deceive us? That if a plagiarism that will mislead us can be hidden behind the screen of the original work? What if we do not notice that the same game will be sold to us under another wrap? About this case I want to talk.

Today I want to tell you about my little investigation on the game Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, which was created in 2006 by the French studio Arkane. Sign game for the year that the players met well. To date, it has 8.7 a point on the Metacritic website, and clearly has a good image in our memories.

Arkane has an extremely good reputation, and the best representatives of the video game industry managed to work in their walls. They tied their name with the genre Immersive-Sim, And behind the name of their founder, the image of an artist who tries to make not just games, but art was clearly entrenched in. I love their games, and I remember warmly Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, which I first played back in 2006. From a sense of nostalgia, I bought again and passed it, but this time I caught myself on a strange thought. She is very similar to Half-Life 2, on the engine of which they created this game. Literally mechanically. She looks more like Half-Life 2, than Black Mesa looks like Half-Life 2, which was created on the same engine, albeit a later version. Or more than Portal 2 looks like its ancestor.

To understand the reasons for this feeling, I decided to study in more detail the principle of the game and find out how its unique elements work. I came to interesting conclusions, and I’m ready to share with you an investigation about how in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy Arkane sold to us Half-Life 2 Under the guise of a new game or about “”How to make less earn more?“

Brief history of creating the game

Arkane I sold us a modified one Half-Life 2 Not just like that. This was led by a series of random decisions that the studio made in attempts to survive. Our path in this investigation begins with the reasons why the game appeared.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic – This is the second studio project Arkane and the conditions under which it was created were extremely complex. The birth of the previous game of the studio, Arx Fatalis, were so painful that the studio almost went bankrupt. They needed to either close or quickly create a new game and offer it to potential publishers. The studio even by modern standards is not small, in the walls Arkane 60 people work, which was more than enough for development AAA-Games in 2006. For example, c Valve over development Half-Life 2 84 employees worked.

Initially, a new game Arkane their debut was supposed to be a sequel Arx Fatalis. But the publisher refused this idea, Jowood, and others did not burn the desire to buy a commercially unprofitable franchise.

As a result, to avoid bankruptcy, Arkane It was necessary to take decisive actions. But her usual series of successful coincidences saved her.

The first of them occurred in 2003 in San Francisco, where a conference of the developers of video games was held- GDC. Studio Arkane And its founder Rafael Kolantonio They were nominated for the Pioneer of the Year Award (or as the people called this nomination: “Penguin of the Year”) and he flew to the United States to participate in it. At the same conference, a programmer of game engines from Valve Jay Stelly performed on the panel of the developers of the physical engine HAVOK. Jay showed Raphael Demo version Half-Life 2, talked about her technology and offered to use the engine Source In future projects.

Director of Arkane – Rafael Kolantonio and Lid -engineer of the Source engine – Jay Stelly.

Director of Arkane – Rafael Kolantonio and Lid -engineer of the Source engine – Jay Stelly.

Valve Not the first time did this for the first time. In fact, since the creation of the company to this day – Valve does not create anything herself. She takes someone’s achievements, technologies or ideas, and realizes them under her wing. At first it was with John Karmak and his game engine IDTech 2, which will turn into GoldSRC, Before starting work on the original Half-Life, and then in the very Source. The same thing happened with enthusiasts Minim And Jess Cliff, which in 1999 after the release Half-Life created the modification of Counter-Strike, which eventually made them full-fledged employees of the company Valve. Dota, Portal And Left 4 Dead. Up to the present day Gaben With its third business eye finds innovations and realizes them at itself, for example, technologies from BoneWorks In Half-Life: Alyx . By 2013, most employees Valve, who are directly engaged in development – these are former participants in the modern community on the engine Source.

Arkane It was necessary to make a new very cool game, and Valve – Sell a license for your engine. This meeting and the exchange of courtesies presented Arkane The right to use the engine Source and technical support Valve In their work on their new game.

The studio actively began to make a demo for the sequel of her last game, and the management of the studio was looking for her publisher.

The mid-2000s was a strange time for the industry. All cult shooters, RPGs and strategies have already come out, and some even began to go to the annals of history. Industry needed changes. It was in the first half of the 2000s that the trend was born to shooters that would change our view of the isometric or tactical games of the last century (exactly how popular remakes on games are 20-30 years ago). Remember how in the universe Command & Conquer Renegade shooter appeared, like Postal from isometry passed to the first -person species in the second part. There was also the first shooter on Warhammer 40k, GTA lost the view from above, and even Fallout tried on this trend for its third license plate. IN Ubisoft Then then this trend was caught then. Step -by -step strategies in the universe Sword and magic, the rights to which the French publisher acquired, worried about the best times. And following the trends, Ubisoft We decided to create a game in the universe Heroes of Might & Magic with a first -person view. Only first you need to find technology. And here, as for ready, to the bosses Ubisoft The director comes Arkane and invites them to publish an innovative RPG-the game, and even holding the source code of the most piercing game engine at that time.

As a result, all developments for Arx Fatalis 2 We formed the basis of the new game in the Universe of the Sword and Magic. Here’s what the associative director talks about those events Ubisoft Ervan Le Breton:

Might & Magic has a special place in the hearts of many gamers. But when Ubisoft bought this license, it was dying, if you did not take into account the still very active series of strategic games Heroes of Might & Magic. So, our first step was to ask ourselves: “What will we do with this license?”. Of course we will make a heroic game. Arkane came to us with the concept of first-person action games using the Half-Life 2 Source Engine engine, which takes place in the fantasy world. And we said: “Great! This is the perfect option for Might & Magic “. – From an interview with Ervan Le Breton for a documentary about the creation of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic.

By the plan Ubisoft, The game was supposed to become a grand final of history that would be told in Heroes of Might & Magic v . A kind of bold experiment with a format. And creators “Dark Messiah“Were only developers of the technical part. Design documents and script for the fifth heroes were made by a Russian studio Nival Interactive – The authors of such games such as “Demiurgi” and “Blitzkrieg”. Arkane only on the basis of their materials was to make Action-RPG with a first -person view.

So everything was successful for the young video game studio. Alien engine, alien intellectual property, 2 years of development by a team for AAA-projects. What happened in the end?

Gameplay

Say that the engine Half-Life 2 created the most beautiful magic with a typical Action-RPG setting means nothing to say. The Role Games genre itself is very conditional, and often forces the players to connect their imagination. As when reading books, when the imagination finishes the picture of what is happening. If we recall that have already become classic RPG With elements Action-games of the two thousandth years, then one cannot fail to note some kind of conventionality in management and combat mechanics. For example, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind had a rather conditional combat system in terms of sensations. The game implemented a very clumsy animation of the impact, and in the battles the characteristics of the character and his equipment were the decisive factors. This performance was inherent in almost everyone Action-RPG, Such as: System Shock, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout (his three -dimensional versions), witcher (its first part). The list can be continued for a very long time. This feature got it RPG From their ancestors – board role -playing games. In the huts you also rely on your imagination and your waging, and the outcome of the battle for you is decided by a conditional card, abandoned bones or a map of characteristics of a character. In computer role -playing games, kinematographicism is traditionally not needed, because there are many other elements that need to pay special attention. This can best be seen in contrast to RPG In the classical sense of the genre – the original Heroes of Might & Magic v, where this cinematography slides into the movement of almost plastic figures on the game field. In general, each RPG To one degree or another, gives more preferences to the characteristics in numerical incarnation than the tactile and realistic gameplay mechanics.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic Put this stereotype from the head. Until 2006, I do not know the games that, with the same detailed study, made the battle physically realistic, without rolling into a conservative action completely. There are also role elements that appear in the pumping characteristics character and him inventory. The weapon has damage indicators in several conditions: the main and critical damage, in which the latter also has an indicator of the probability of occurrence. Elements of armor have their own characteristics, and additional objects, like rings, are able to enhance the main characteristics of the player.

But despite this, the physical engine HAVOK literally forces us to use all the benefits of realistic physics as an additional combat mechanics. Therefore, the environment is added to the swords and magic in gameplay. So in the game there were interactive elements of the environment that pushing us to commit a spectacular murder, encountering the enemy from the hill, bending it to a sparkling wall with a heavy kick, or bringing down a bunch of huge boxes and a chandelier tied to the ceiling. People Dark Messiah They even nicknamed as a joke “Pink simulator“. Physics in the game engine Source It was so cool at that time that this interactiveness of the environment became the main and most selling feature of the game or, with your permission to say – “Killer-fiche“.

But such a slope aside gameplay’s tact https://betirocasino.co.uk/ I did not pass without a trace. The pumping system eventually turned into a kind of rudiment, from which there is not so much use. In the process of passing, after the completion of the next plot stage, the player’s points of skills are given, which are subsequently spent on pumping. The pumping system itself looks like Tree of Perkov, which you open during the game. These are either new magic spells that almost all have exclusively combat character, or abilities that allow you to use more stronger options for traditional weapons.

But again, the physical engine HAVOK And the presence Ragdolov The game gives the opportunity to use magic in conjunction with an interactive environment. You can throw a jug with butter into the enemy and set fire to it with a fire ball, or create an ice under the enemy’s feet, on which he will slip and fly on the ground, which will allow him to stab him with a dagger. The possibilities of killing opponents are as extensive as possible and are limited only by imagination.

There was no mechanic without attention Far battle – There are bows in the game, but they are banal and we are not interesting. That’s really interesting is unique Killer-fiche, which is a hallmark and one of the most striking and recognizable gameplay elements – Verkholase onion. This is a bow that shoots an arrow with a wiped cable, on which you can subsequently climb on a hill, and which adds gameplay a little verticality.

All these elements in total create a unique Action Expirence. But what about the rest RPG-elements? As I said before: “Such a slope aside tact gameplay did not pass without a trace “. The game has a very meager variety of items of inventory, weapons and armor. There is also no key element for any RPG – trade. All objects during the game can only be found under your feet. About the reasons why it happened, I will talk later, when we will consider on what principles this game works.

Oh yes, the most important and decisive purely for me element of the game. Then why did I fall in love with F.E.A.R, why am I just crazy about the new Cyberpunk 2077, and why will I idolize any game in which this element is being implemented. The player in Dark Messiah There is LEGS! They are drawn! You lower your head down and see them! An amazing trifle that imprints the game in my memory!

I still do not fully understand what prevents all games from drawing legs in characters in games with first -person view.

Well, in conclusion, I must say that there is absolutely no game in the game dialogue system. Any choice is inclined only to your actions, and all the interaction between the characters and you is in advance by the scriptwriters along one path. This is excusable, given that the game itself is literally a cinematic ending of the whole series RPG-games.

Next, we need to sort out the game device a little and compare the changes that the engine has undergone Source Since time Half-Life 2. But you can’t just dive into the study of complex technical solutions with your head, we first talk a little about what game engines are.

What is a “game engine”?

In the process of preparing the material, I entered into discussions with various players criticizing the game Dark Messiah, who constantly told me that “There is nothing strange, the game on the engine Half-Life 2 Made“. Here I see the problem distorted judgment.

First, let’s talk about engines, More precisely, let’s recall the games that came to the same engines to see how different there are projects that use the same basic software.

Game engine – basic computer game software. The separation of the game and the game engine is often vague, and the studios do not always draw a clear border between them. But in the general case, the term “Game engine“Is used for the software that is suitable for re -use and expansion, and thereby can be considered as the basis for the development of many different games without significant changes.

As a rule, game engines are specialized in the framework of the computer games genre. So, the engine designed for two -dimensional fighting in the boxing ring, it will be significantly different from the engine for mass Multi -user Games, shooter from the first person or Strategies In real time. But at the same time, the engines have significant common parts – all Three -dimensional games, Despite the genre, they require the interaction of the player through the keyboard, the gamepad and/or mice, some form of three rendering, indication products, as on windshield (for example, printing text on top of a graphic image), sound system and much more. So, the engine Unreal Engine, Despite the fact that it was designed for shooter From the first person, successfully used to create games in many other genres, such as a third -person shooter GEARS of WAR or adventure role -playing game Grimm.

Game engines – This is a huge set of software solutions, which eventually create magic. Each separate solution can be made in the form of another independent engine. For example, for physics and drawing in the game Half-Life 2 The mentioned graphic engine is responded HAVOK, which was also used in the racing simulator Test Drive Unlimited 2007. Moreover, the moment is interesting that in Half-Life 2 used only HAVOK PHYSICS, while TDU used the entire spectrum of engineering solutions from the Irish company.

For sound individual engines are also responding. For example, c Cyberpunk 2077 The same engine is responsible for the sound as in Kingdom Come – Deliverance – Wwise. In general, this is the most popular sound solution that is now used in the predominant majority of games. And often technologies of one engine can Link With technologies of others. For example, in games with opponents under the control of artificial intelligence, these work of the sound engine can be used to adjust behavior AI. Let me give you an example: developers from Crowbar Collective in work on the mod Black Mesa Source Modified the mechanism of the sound engine so that the Normal map for the sound landscape was one of the orientation methods for opponents.

I have collected too many examples to illustrate the technical basis of the video game, but the last example will reveal to us a variety of projects that could be implemented on the same BY.

In the interval between 2011 and 2013 on a licensed engine from the company Crytek The following products were sold:

Star Citizen – 2011, endless space multiplayer sandbox With the most enormous development budget.

Beamng Drive – 2012, experimental automobile sandbox, in which the system is recreated in detail Destruction car.

Fibble – Flick ‘N’ Roll – 2012, Mobile Arkada in which you are memorized from Angry Birds you put the ball into a flight on a special track with movements.

And these are all the games made on the engine Cryengine 3. They are completely different both visually and gameplay. At first glance, there is nothing in common, but a fiery motor beats in the chest Crysis.

Visual difference between projects

Visual difference between projects

Visual difference between projects

Visual difference between projects

I hope that such a clear example made you an idea of ​​what “Game engine“. Now go directly to comparison Half-Life 2 And Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, because I have a lot of questions for the latter.

Comparison with Half-Life 2

Let’s start with obvious differences Games from each other. That the first is striking? Naturally, their design. Conceptually, both games are different as possible. Half-Life 2 – This is a game about a near future in which alien invaders destroy the majority of the world’s population, and survivors plant their dictatorship using alien technologies. In files with the content of the game in the classification of materials, you can even find such a category as “Combine“. These are textures of alien metal, models of outlandish bioonic aircraft, etc. Dark Messiah In turn, it is a game in a fictional fantasy world, where orcs, elves and gnomes live with people. There is nothing to do with alien invaders in the design. And surrounded by various architectural solutions are used. IN Half-Life 2 All environment is built on aesthetics social. block, and in Dark Messiah – These are white -stone castles that seemed to be transferred to the game straight from Middle -earth.

General Pattern, which I find between games in their design is about the same biom around. The events of one and the other game seem to occur on the very same Black Sea The coast that I once walked Victor Antonov (game designer of games like Half-Life 2 (Valve) And Dishonored (Arkane)), collecting refrain for Half-Life 2, But the similarities end in this. There are no common in the game Asset. Even in places where it would be possible to save time for texture drawing, Dark Messiah Uses original content. For example, the carpet pattern that can be found along the path from City-17 is different from what we can meet in Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (although, where you can reduce an hour of work of the artist, it is in such trifles). In general, in the course of studying content from the game, I saw that even the file structure of packages is different from Half-Life 2. Most likely the guys from Arkane Only the source code of the engine left Source, And all the assets Half-Life 2 were removed from the branch.

Otherwise, both games are twin brothers. Basic Mechanics Both games literally repeat each other, otherwise a little unique that can be found in a gameplay Dark Messiah – This is either an adaptation of code Half-Life 2, either the simplest lines of this code, imposed on top of all the sets of the functions that were in it. In order to understand how sad the situation is I will tell you about two aspects that are in the game. Along the way I need to explain to you a few more terms that are used in programming. The first of them will be the term “function“.

So my friends discuss how to realize a change in the sound of a shot depending on the completeness of the clip. This is a visual demonstration of the most important matan that is used to design functions.

Function In programming, or subprogram – A fragment of the program code, which can be addressed from another place of the program. The address is inextricably linked with the name of the function first instructions (operator), included in function, which is transferred to control when addressing the function. Function can accept Parameters and must return some meaning, Perhaps empty. Functions, which return an empty value, often called procedures. In some programming languages, the announcements of functions and procedures have different syntax, In particular, various Key words.

PS is a dry explanation of the term from Wikipedia, but if you know how large programs work, it is quite possible to visualize this explanation in a whole picture. Next, we will wait for a simpler (but applicable only to video games) explanation.

Every code, which you can enter in the game console – This is the same “function“Or her parameter. The result that you see in the game after its introduction is the result of the changes that this function causes. For example, to enable the regime debugging and access to editing indicators of other functions you enter “Sv_chets 1“, Where the unit is the developer mode switch, and zero by the switch. And let’s see the example when the same functions are used as in Half-Life 2, So in Dark Messiah. We need to find technically the same processes that are found in both games. For me, this general function has become Gravi-gun from one and spell telekinesis From another.

So, telekinesis from Dark Messiah of Might & Magic – This, without exaggeration, Gravi-gun from Half-Life 2. From the point of view of logic, this is understandable, both features allow us to transfer and with great force to throw various objects and bodies of opponents. It is absolutely logical to just take and modify both tools without touching the function that is responsible for their performance. But how to really understand that this is the same function? Thanks to her parameters. The parameters ‘are screwed to telekinesisPhyscannon_minforce‘ And ‘Physcannon_maxForce’Who are responsible for how the objects from gravity guns. If if you raise the values ​​of these parameters, then it begins to behave like a charged Gravi-gun From levels in the citadel Half-Life 2. Default parameter ‘Physcannon_mega_enabled’, Apparently, remains turned on and when the parameter is changed from 0 to 1, nothing happens. This parameter c Half-Life 2 changed the parameters of the throw and the maximum weight of the raised items after visiting the weapon scanner of the Alliance. But small changes in the function ‘Physcannon’Still there were, and a new function has appeared‘mm_telekinesi_coEFF_DAMAGE’, Which, as already can be seen from the name, is responsible for the factor of damage from the hit by an abandoned object, because the charged Gravi-gun tritely killed opponents when touching the flying Ragdola with them. In general, all innovations in Dark Messiah marked with the post ‘mm_’At the beginning of the name of each function or file. Thus it is more convenient to navigate in the branch Repository, and refer to your innovations in the engine.

Initially playing the game, I noticed that Ragdole zombies disappear with the same Particip, which draws in Half-Life 2 When killing charged Gravi-gun. Moreover, if you play with the parameters, then the murder of exactly the body of one enemy in this case Vansch is another and launches that very animation with dissolution. All this is a legacy Half-Life 2. Exceptions are moments when the function is launched “The enemy knockout“. It is clumsy on top of the main code of the game.

Well, in order not to be very distracted from the story, I will quickly tell the explanation by the term “Particles“.

Particle system or Particles – This is used in computer graphics a way to represent objects that do not have clear geometric boundaries (Various clouds, nebulae, explosions, steam jets, train from missiles, smoke, snow, rain, etc. p.). Particle systems can be implemented both in two -dimensional and three -dimensional graphics. Usually generated by special mechanisms that create complex effects by entering numerical function In this mechanism. That is, the mechanism does not use textures, models or sprins. For greater clarity, I suggest you separately get acquainted with the term “noise of Perlin”.

Okay, it was just weapon, And you can imagine that Each sword – This is rewritten mount, A onion – This is very slow crossbow. But the game has its own inventory and many raised items that were not in Half-Life 2 (more precisely they were, but after the rise we did not edit them)! There is one more cunning, which struck me for the depths of my soul, and the essence of this cunning of this cunning “prompted me”Give”, Which throws us an object in the inventory, but first we need to reveal in more detail the last term -“Classifier“.

Classifier – Systematic scroll named objects, Each of which is in line with Unique code. Classification objects are made according to the rules for the distribution of a given sets objects on subset (classification groups) in accordance with the established signs of their difference or similarity. It is used in automated control systems and information processing.

Simply put. You lay out your socks and panties in a box in color, form factor and ability to maintain heat. So you will always know where to get the right one. The car also needs to be known exactly where to get this or that file.

In any video game, all of it Content – This is huge database models, textures, scripts, sounds and animations. At each point in time, the game should be able call One or another Content and in pre -given conditions use his. For different ones objects Different Classifiers, And these Objects will have their own unique identifier. Different Classifiers can turn to general databases or have your own unique. Everyone has Classifier will be their own functions, by which he is managed. For example, an inventory in a role -playing game is a vivid example of a classifier. Moreover, the inventory can be different. For example, in the engine Gamebryo, on which were created Fallout And TES from the company Bethesda, was common identifier items for inventory player And NPC, And also for cabinets And chests. This problem was solved in the most clumsy and creamy way – under each NPC in the game, as well as under player, was closet with all wearable objects, because adding a new classifier to an already confusing system is more difficult than just finding a good crutch.

But this is the problem, in Half-Life 2 No inventory. There are only 6 cells weapons and nothing else. Guys from Arkane, Like the guys from Bethesda, approached the issue creatively and found no less filigree way to add this Classifier. IN Dark Messiah There are also notorious Cells for weapons and items of inventory. For both games, it is general and changed only its design and the ability to change objects in places cells. Where did all the items that are in the game get? The developers were given the general call function For the console.

IN Half-Life You can Spread Any item or NPC Through the team “Give“, For example “Give NPC_alyx“, Which materializes Miss Vance. IN Dark Messiah This command will look like “mm_npc_create_ [entity_id]“. There are not so many characters in games, therefore it is easier to take out a few NPC In a separate one Directory file system, and at the same time all the files required for them, because for the command Give The game is assigned the classifier of objects. That is, the same classifier is designed for two different things in both games. And due to the fact that it is problematic to attribute different parameters to entities, all the food that treats the protagonist Dark Messiah, Being different objects in the surrounding world (bread, berry juice, piece of meat, etc.) in the inventory turn simply into “I’m going“. And because of this, Finta with NPC I had to put all the animations for the characters in a separate data package, which we will not see in any other games at Source.

In general, as I understand it, the developers had to endure NPC Separately, also because the engine has restrictions on the caused entities. The problem is that the game is made as 32-bit The program and cannot use more 3GB memory, otherwise she Collapses. Because of this, the restrictions in the game can be loaded no more 4096 entities. IN Half-Life 2 In fact, one classifier for all entities.

The game also has pumping system, But here everything is simple. There are standard parameters of all variables The player is functions, who change these variables. It’s like changing the level HP u Gordon Freeman or plus the level of damage to his weapons. That is, everyone skill, which can be studied is a separate function. There are even separate caused functions that these parameters edit – “mm_player_skills_ [entity_name]“.

Independent game or mod?

In the end, it turns out that in the game from original content created only a few functions for elements gameplay and a bunch of models and ascets. The game generally has little original. Plot? He is not an original work Arkane, and was written by the Russian studio Nival Interactive As part of the game Heroes of Might & Magic v. Technical side? As we found out above, this is the same Half-Life 2, A couple of years before Dark Messiah.

What technical innovations added Dark Messiah In the engine Source? A new way to draw light? Changes in physics? A crossed sound engine? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

In this case, I wonder what 60 employees did Arkane for two years? I would like to quote the doctors here Brina And ask: “”Have you created at least something?! I thought so…“

Put the question with an edge: what products created with the same approach and labor costs in the history of the engine Source? – Original Portal? It was originally Maud;- Counter-STRIKE? Again Maud;- The Stanley Parable? This is the game of a lower market segment and a priori cannot have technical Innovation, and can have the initial implementation also at the level of extensive fashion.

I found the best comparison between Dark Messiah of Might & Magic from Arkane And the original remake Half-Life 1998 called Black Mesa: Source from Crowbar Collective. The first is an independent game in which 60 people from scratch created mainly new models and textures, and the second – a modification on the engine Source, in which from 20 to 46 developers, new models and textures also painted from scratch. They are united by the fact that both companies did not work on the script. But there is a fatal difference. Arkane technically not changed in the engine Source Nothing, but here Crowbar Collective changed a lot in the engine. Artificial behavior intelligence, A completely new system of creating persons that allows each character to have a unique face drawn by the artist. This is provided that in the game on the old technology LIP SINK It was created automatically through a special mechanism that should remain workers after changing the system of creating these persons. As well as new cards Normals, which create a relief on flat textures and a processed light system. Although this appeared in Stalker First, but in Source This was not.

Let me explain even more detailed. IN Arkane At that moment, about 60 people worked on the development of the game. Naturally, Budgets in 2004-2006 were lower, and the expectations of the players could justify Easy. Officially the numbers were never revealed and I did not find information on the Internet, but judge for yourself. In 2004, 84 employees Valve, who worked on Half-Life 2, Creating everything from scratch created a revolution. And in 2006 a little less, 60 people, studios Arkane Spend Half-Life 2 In a new wrapper under the guise of fresh AAA-product. Even today, a team of 60 people per game is a lot. Already in our time, when the content for a separate game needs to be created an order of magnitude more in relation to man -hours – 60 people are a big studio. For example, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice created 120 people, although the development of content there is magnitude higher, compared to 2006. And all these people need to pay salaries. So it is formed AAA-Budgets. But this is not scary when everything required is already in hand, and it is easy to live up to your expectations. This is the one deception, which helps “Work less and earn more“.

Whether it spoils the game? No – it is excellent. The very fact of its existence gave us the opportunity to get unique Immersive-Sim games that came out after Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. We did not see and did not know how this game was created. They did not know that the reasons for its creation were a series of accidents, and that the studio Arkane would wait for bankruptcy without this luck. They threw dust in the eyes of us, but did something beautiful. But someone was less fortunate in this. And the next time, please, do not be shit on Cyberpunk 2077. They just were less fortunate in the development of.

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